Press-plate.



H. G. MIXER.

PRESS PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED "12,1912.

Patented Oct. 17,1916.

HARRY G. MIXER, OF ST. IPAUL MINNESO'IA, ASSIGNORTO ARCHER-DANIELS LINSEED COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA,A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

PRESS-PLATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 17, 1916.

Application filed February 2, 1912. Serial No. 675,093.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY G. MIXER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey andState of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Press-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in press plates for use in an oil cake press for extracting oil from flax or other seed. It is customary in extracting oil from flax 'or other seed to grind the seed and steam it after which the resulting meal is molded into cakes and each of said cakes is wrapped in a cloth and placed between the press plates in a press. Vhen the press has been filled with cakes in the manner described, steam or hydraulic pressure isapplied, to the ram thus pressing the stack of plates and cakes between them until substantially all oil has been extracted from the meal. The pressure is then removed from the ram which returns to normal position separating the plates and the compressed cakes are free to be removed and the cloths stripped therefrom.

It has been found in practice that the extreme pressure which is app'lied in extracting the oil by the press wears and tears the cloths after which they are useless, the lateral pressure causing this result. The cloths which it is necessary to use in the press are expensive, the material employed being of such'strength and quality as to requ re 1mportation thereof from. foreign countries.

It is the purpose of my invention to so construct the plates as to minimize the wear of the cloths thus reducing expense in carrying out the process of extracting oil.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification Figure l is a side elevation of an oil press equipped with my improved press plates; Fig. 2 is a perspective View of one of my improved plates,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a pair of adjacent press plates showing the oil meal cake between with a cloth wrapped around the same in position during the act of extracting oil, and Figs. 4 and 5 are details of the press plate.

In the drawings A represents the base, in the form of a cylinder, of the oil cake press of ordinary construction, B the ram, C the head piece, D the tie bolts between the cylinder and the head and E the press plates. These press plates are employed in the usual manner being hung from the head by means of links 2 when the ram is in normal position as with the ordinary press plates which have heretofore been in general use. The super-imposed press plates are assembled in the pressbetween the tIB-bO ltS for guidance thereby-with the pressing surface of each which is uppermost constructed with a gutter 3 as illustrated for draining the oil which is extracted from the meal cake. This gutter is formed adjacent to the outer edge of the plate and is open at one end of the plate for the passage of the oil which is extracted. Adjacent the sides of this gutter is a pair of strips 4 having inwardly beveled edges 5 said strips being riveted at 6 or otherwise secured to the plate. The lower surface of the plate is also provided with strips 7 which are secured by the same rivets which secure the upper strips. The beveled edges 5 serve to prevent the bulging and cracking of the cloth, which contains the seed, along the edge of the plates E. The plates as de scribed are those which are positioned between the extreme upper and lower plates 8 and 9 in the press it being understood that'the upper plate 8 is not provided with strips on its upper surface and that the lower plate has no strips on its lower surface, said upper and lower plates being carried respectively by the head piece C and the movable member B of the ram. The

plates are hung from the head piece C in the usual manner by links 2 which serve to support the plates when the ram is in receded position evenly spaced apart permitting the plates to move together with the cakes of meal between them during the upward movement of the ram.

F represents one of the meal cakes wrapped in a cloth 11 endwise around the cake and placed between a pair of adjacent plates such as described (see Fig. 3). The cloth is used for the purpose of preventing the cake which is formed under pressure between the plates from adhering to the surfaces of the plates and at the same time permitting the oil from the meal readily passing out. In extracting oil great pressure is applied by the plates to the cake and this pressure strains the fabric and soon tears and wears the cloth out principally because the surfaces of the plates which come into rice.

contact with the cloth are'smooth and oily.

' I have found in practice that by roughening other seed.

In carrying out my invention I have cross corrugated the entire surface of each plate at 12 which comes into contact with the cloth but it is obvious that the surface may be otherwise roughened inorder to prevent the stretching of the cloth or mat. The corrugations are of suflicient coarseness and depth to imprint the surface of the resulting meal cake which is formedbetween the plates and thus reduce tendency of the cakes slipping when formed in a stack. In this manner the tendency of the cloth to split due to pressure is reduced to a minimum, the surface of the press plate gripping the cloth and holding it against creeping out during the application of pressure. formed by the corrugations widens out at the base so that the strain is spread out over as much surface as possible and so that the block will readily draw out of the mat. The blocks present a large number of edges and angles to the mat thus further reducing the tendency of the mat'stretching and strainingwhile pressure is being applied upon the plates.

After oil has been extracted from the meal cake pressure upon the ram is removed and the plates in the press separated whereupon the cakes with the cloths wrapped around them may be removed from the press and the cloths stripped from the cakes.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principles of operation Each block of my invention together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth Within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. The combination in an oil press having a base portion, a head portion and a series of space tie-bolts rigidly connecting said base and head portions together, of a plurality of superimposed press plates having loose-link connection with one another and reciprocably disposed between said tie-bolts for guidance thereby, the adjacent faces of each of said plates being provided with correspondingly positioned rigid strips along its opposite edges and the intermediate portion of said plates being roughened and adapted to receive meal cakes therebetween,

and means for forcing said plates together,

as and for the purposes specified.

2. A press plate for oil presses having a ma-rginal 'gutter around three sides and open at the fourth side, a pair of parallel strips spaced apart and secured at the inner edge of the gutter on opposite sides of the plate, said strips having downwardly sloping adjacent edges and the portion of said plate between the strips being roughened.

In testimonywhereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARRY G. MIXER. V lVitnesses:

H. L. FISCHER,

G. H. DEEBACH.

-Gop1es of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. i 

